Planteringsförbandets inverkan på bestånd av contortatall (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) med avseende på volymtillväxt och virkesegenskaper

Abstract: At the beginning of the 1970´s forestry feared an imbalance in the future wood supply. Because of this anticipated "timber slump" forest companies undertook a variety of measures to counter this. One of these measures was the introduction of exotic tree species. The choice finally ended up with lodgepole pines which were considered a fast growing tree species compared to our native tree species. Theambition for the new lodgepole pine stands were to run these with rotation periods of between 40-60 years, thus smoothing out the “timber slump” that was anticipated. The knowledge of how to optimally manage lodgepole pine to achieve desirable results is still limited. This study aimed to examine how different initial spacings affect production on various wood properties. The results showed that initial spacing has a major impact on volume growth, as well as various wood properties. The average volume of the densest spacing was 96 percent higher than in the most sparse spacing. The presence of different quality defects also varied significantly between the different units. Highest height to living crown, largest mean diameter and the highest percentage of damaged trees could be found in the three-meter spacing. A reasonable balance between volume production and timber quality should be a spacing of 2.0x2.0 meters.